The journey to become a children's author

A local urologist described in his blog about the journey he took to write a children’s book, which included finding a publisher through Twitter and a little girl reading to a dog in Ireland.

“If you noticed a break in my blogging, it’s because I had an idea for a children’s book,” Dr. Brian Stork posted recently. “My sister was pregnant, and I wanted to share my passion for beekeeping — and my love of the outdoors — in a novel way with my future nephew.”

After writing some initial drafts, Stork said he received helpful feedback from local children’s book author Amy Young and a friend, Angela Dunn. Another friend, Carol Rickey, agreed to do the illustrations for the book.

“Next, I needed to find a graphic designer to combine my text with Carol’s illustrations,” Stork wrote. “Thanks to my friend, Julie Greene at the Muskegon Surgical Center, I connected with Eric Hettenbach at Hettenbach Graphic Design. Eric took the time to really listen, and pulled everything together. His finished work exceeded all of my expectations!”

Stork’s book, “Everything Beautiful Begins with Love,” is currently available for purchase at The Bookman in Grand Haven. He says The Bookman has generously agreed to donate all proceeds from the book to support Reading Enables Adult Development (R.E.A.D.), an adult literacy nonprofit that serves Ottawa County.

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